Hey, You! Disenfranchised John Doe!

Sometimes it seems as though we need a full-time citizens’ group to take up residence in Congress to protect the rest of us from their perfidy.

Andrew McCarthy addresses the defeat of the American individual’s right to safety:

At least for now, the Democrats have killed Rep. Pete King’s amendment which would have provided protection from being sued for people who report suspicious behavior — like the Flying Imams’ simulated hijacking — in national security cases.

Maybe it’s me, but I just find this stunning. Asking whether, in this era (or, frankly, any era), you should be able to tell the police you saw something troubling without having to worry about it is like asking whether you should be able to breathe. It is common sense — if such a thing exists anymore in Reid/Pelosi America.

The Democrats’ maneuver here is also an obnoxious assertion of state power over the individual: If the state subpoenas you for information, you are compelled to provide it to the authorities whether you want to or not; but if you want to provide it voluntarily in order to protect your community, the Democrats say, “prepare to be sued.”

What possible good reason is there to silence people who want to tell the police they saw suspicious behavior? Under circumstances where we are under threat from covert terror networks which secretly embed themselves in our society to prepare and carry out WMD attacks? Planet earth to the Democrats: To execute such attacks, terrorists have to act suspiciously at some point. There are only a few thousand federal agents in the country. There are many more local police, but even they are relatively sparse in a country of 300 million. If we are going to stop the people trying to kill us, we need ordinary citizens on their toes. Again, this is just common sense.

Democrats killed the amendment in a very sneaky, technical, under-the-radar way in the House — so they can tell their insane fringe backers they pulled it off, yet no one’s fingerprints are on it. As far as I’m concerned, that just means we should blame “THE DEMOCRATS.” Period. If they don’t want personal accountability, we should see it this way: When it comes to national security, this is who they are.

Unfortunately common sense is a scarce commodity in our nation’s capitol. It has come to the point…
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…that hyper-vigilance (a chronic condition afflicting sufferers of PTSD) is the only alternative to the insane, Machiavellian behavior that goes on there. It’s no longer enough to idly peruse the MSM to see the news. In order to be safe, you have to stay two steps ahead of this perfidious crowd. You need a bull horn to warn people of the dangerous legislative waters ahead.

CVF has some practical guidance for those of you who are forced to fly the unfriendly skies after this shameful defeat of John Doe. As they say, “it’s time to gear up” — literally:

• Expect more probes of the 6 Flying Imams variety, especially as we go into the August vacation season.
  
• Bring a video camera or video cell phone with you, so you can gather evidence as needed to protect yourself and your fellow passengers, from both terrorism and lawsuits. You can pick one up for less than $100 at Wal-Mart (online price maybe cheaper in the store), Target, or RadioShack.
  
• It’s time for a Passenger Bill of Rights and Passenger Training. If we have to protect ourselves, so be it. Kyle Shideler did a great post on this on May 3, and I’m reposting it below because it’s even more important now.

[go here for the Passenger Training. Scroll down.]

Now that I think of it, why weren’t the airlines loud and vocal about this issue? It’s their bread and butter on the line, after all. In addition to bugging those who failed to vote for your safety, write some of the airlines you use. For legislators, snail mail goes into quarantine, so phone calls, faxes, and emails are more effective. But for airlines, a letter would serve well. Just google the last one you used and write them to ask why they weren’t on hand to protect you, their customer?

Call Homeland Security. Where were they on this? Ask them why they didn’t have anyone on hand to protest this disgusting and dangerous politicking. By the way, the governor of each state has to appoint a state level head for DHS (don’t you love the levels of bureaucracy?) so look yours up and send them a letter, too. Demand that you be allowed to protest or report questionable behavior.

My choice is to refuse to fly. There’s nowhere I want to go badly enough to put my life in the hands of Congress, thank you very much. But not all of you have that luxury.

Act now, while you still can.